A comfortable ride on any terrain, the HeyBike Mars is just great fun—and practical too.

The HeyBike Mars is a lot of fun to ride, and those fat tires will easily handle anything from dirt paths and rocky hillsides to your everyday urban streets and grassland. It's technically foldable, but don't plan on carrying it very far without a vehicle. The only downside to such a heavyweight beast of a bike is that it's difficult to ride without the motor assistance, so you keep an eye on the battery to ensure you can make it home again.

The HeyBike Mars is a rugged fat-tire all-terrain eBike with a 500W motor, 48-mile range, front and seat suspension, and a removable battery. It folds up so you can throw it in the back of your car, and has a pannier rack to carry your luggage. It looks incredible and it's mad fun to ride. You can grab one right now for a little over $1000 on Amazon, which is a steal.

For the past few weeks, I've been riding it around some rough Cornish terrain to see if it's really all that. Spoiler: it really is—and a lot cheaper than you'd expect.

The HeyBike Mars arrived in a large 35kg box, and is folded up for transport, so the box isn’t as long as you might expect but it is wide. Despite the bottom of our box being wide open on arrival, everything was well packaged and seemingly secure. There’s very little construction to do: just unfold the bike, cut some cable ties, then insert the seat and handlebar. The front and rear mudguards come fitted as standard, as does the front and rear lighting.

This was easier said than done, however, as the diagrams in the book are somewhat small, and it's not obvious that you need to align the folding latch of the handlebar stem diagonal (rather than orthogonal to the wheels). Once I figured that out though, we were good to go.

The most obvious feature of the HeyBike Mars is the imposing fat tires, measuring 4 inches wide and 20 inches diameter. They feature a deep tread, and wouldn't be out of place on a small dirt bike. The inside rim also features red highlights, where the inner tubes seem to bulge out slightly. It's only a minor visual flair, but certainly effective. You'll turn heads everywhere when you roll up in this.

The 500W motor sits on the rear hub, and is driven by a cadence sensor. More expensive eBikes use a torque model for finer control, which detect exactly how much effort you're having to put into pedaling, and adjust accordingly. Cadence sensors tend to be a little unrefined, kicking into action at full speed once they detect motion. I will however note that the cadence sensor on the HeyBike is the most responsive I've tried yet. It doesn't take much motion for it to start.

The ride control system is generic—I've seen this exact LCD display on another eBike. That's not necessarily a bad thing; using generic components keeps the cost down, and makes repairs easier. The same is true of the standard Shimano 7-speed gear system.

The most unexpectedly useful feature was, I found, the pannier rack. Coming as standard and already fitted, you can use a paracord to tie down luggage, or affix pannier bags.

For comfort, you'll find an adjustable front suspension, which can be locked out entirely for road cycling. And your bum will be pleased to find some seat suspension too. Both the seat height and handlebar height are adjustable and should accommodate anyone from 5'3" to 6'3", up to a maximum payload of 120KG. For reference, I'm 6'1" and weigh about 105KG, so I'm definitely near the upper limit, and I had no comfort or power issues.

The HeyBike Mars is technically foldable using secure latches, but that doesn't mean it's easy to carry or "portable" in any sense of the word. It's heavy and awkward to lug around long distances, but you should fit it into the boot of your car without too much effort. You shouldn't expect to fold this up and carry it onto the subway though. It's not an ultralight commuter bike. I was worried that the foldable aspect would compromise structural integrity, but after dragging this thing up and down the bumpiest of bumpy terrain, I'm confident the latches are secure.

Before heading out, ensure your tires are pumped up to the recommend 20PSI (I'd suggest carrying a small portable inflator like the Fanntik Apex X8 to do this quickly). If this is your first ride, make sure you've calibrated the battery by fully charging it first—even if you think it's full already.

There are three levels of pedal assist, which are easily adjusted using the + and - buttons on the LCD control panel. You should be aware that even at level one, the motor is incredibly powerful, and will likely take you by surprise. If you're starting on flat terrain, be very aware of your surroundings. The power output is responsive—as soon as you start cycling you will feel it kick in—but it's quite unrefined. You'll get the full power regardless of how hard you're pedaling. In fact, I often used the throttle alone to push off, which seemed to give me a little more variable control of the motor output.

As for the "all-terrain" claim, the HeyBike Mars certainly lived up to the challenge. Across grass, gravel, sandy paths—you name it, it went over it. On rough hills, I had no problem getting up most slight inclines up to about 15 degrees. Beyond that was possible, but needed a good bit of effort on my part too.

The fat tires ensure a safer ride thanks to the increased surface area and better grip. Despite the high-powered motor, at no point did I feel like the tires were going to slide out from under me. I've pushed the HeyBike Mars as hard as I can, but I should note that this isn't a scrambler bike, and your feet / pedals do sit quite close to the ground. You should be very careful over narrow paths in rocky outcrops, or you might scrape along.

The adjustable suspension makes it as happy on-road as it does off, too. What was once an arduous and tiring 45-minute long walk up and down a steep hill in my village making some shopping deliveries has now turned into a pleasant 10-minute bike ride. Even riding around the bumpy moorlands was as comfortable as it could get.

The 48V 12.5Ah battery provides ample power to the 500W rear hub motor. A full charge takes a good 6-7 hours, and you'll find the XLR charging socket on the side of the battery, covered by a small plastic disc. It doesn't provide a great seal, but that's just another reason you shouldn't head out in the heavy rain.

Thankfully, the battery is removable. Just fold the seat over using the latch at the back, then turn the key to unlock the battery. It can now be lifted out.

At first, I couldn't actually get the key to engage and lock the battery in. Presumably, rough shipping meant the bar it locks onto was slightly out of alignment with the locking pin. It was easy to fix once I identified the problem (using a screwdriver to pull the bar up a few millimeters), and I don't think it points to shoddy workmanship. I'm merely putting it here in case you face the same issue: check the hole aligns with the locking cylinder.

In terms of range, HeyBike claims 48 miles with pedal assist—37 using just the throttle! In practice, this figure is derived from someone a lot lighter than me (probably half the weight) riding on a good, flat surface. Riding up and down rough, difficult terrain—using the highest level three of pedal assist, I managed more like 20 miles. Around town on roads, that rose to around 30. My wife, who weighs a lot less than me, barely made a dent on the battery for numerous trips around town. So while I don't think the 48-mile range on throttle alone is inflated, it's certainly under ideal conditions with a very light load. This isn't unusual; all manufacturers use essentially the same standards to work out maximum range in ideal conditions. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

I've ridden more on the HeyBike Mars in the last few weeks than I've ridden any scooter or bike for the past few years; far beyond what would normally be needed for testing. It's that much fun, and I can't stop thinking of excuses to jump on. I've also been accosted by more random people in the past week than in the entire seven years I've been living in this town, asking about it, and then being surprised by the price. Even at the regular RRP of $1400, it's a good deal. But at the current sale price of around $1050, it's an absolute steal.

The HeyBike Mars is certainly unique, but it won't be to everyone's tastes—particularly those who already cycle. In fact, if you don't want to rely on the pedal assist, you might struggle with this. The sheer weight and those tires mean it's quite cumbersome to just use as a simple pedal bike. Practically speaking, you do need to use the motor, which inevitably means planning longer trips a little more carefully. But if you're prepared to accept that, I think you'll love the HeyBike Mars just as much as I do.

We hope you like the items we recommend and discuss! MUO has affiliate and sponsored partnerships, so we receive a share of the revenue from some of your purchases. This won’t affect the price you pay and helps us offer the best product recommendations.

James has a BSc in Artificial Intelligence and is CompTIA A+ and Network+ certified. When he's not busy as Hardware Reviews Editor, he enjoys LEGO, VR, and board games. Before joining MakeUseOf, he was a lighting technician, English teacher, and data center engineer.

Join our newsletter for tech tips, reviews, free ebooks, and exclusive deals!